UAE companies set to tap into Pakistan’s potential
dubai — Up to 50 delegates from the UAE are expected to attend Expo Pakistan, set to be held next month in Karachi, as dozens of delegates from both the public and private sectors have already confirmed their participation, according to officials in Dubai.
“So far, the response has been very good as 22 delegates have confirmed with us for participation. We have been promoting this event aggressively here in the UAE as well as in other countries around the world. Our target is to take 40 to 50 delegates to Karachi,” said Dr Nasir Khan, commercial counsellor at the Consulate-General of Pakistan in Dubai.
“UAE delegates from food, textile and services industries will attend the event. Even some officials from government, textile malls and the Ras Al Khaimah free zone are going with us. We are jointly working with the Pakistan Business Council; therefore, 15-20 of the council’s members are, too, expected to join us. In addition, we have also invited members of the business councils from Australia, Jordan, the US, the UK and Africa for Expo Pakistan,” he added.
Dr Khan was speaking on the sidelines of a briefing session organised to update local business community and business councils from other countries about the Expo Pakistan. Held annually, the 10th edition of Expo Pakistan — the country’s largest trade fair — is slated to be held from November 9 to 12 in Karachi where more than 500 exhibitors will showcase their products to local and foreign buyers and investors.
Ranging from food to textile to spare parts, a host of other products will be showcased for the potential investors.
Pakistan-UAE bilateral trade totalled around $7 billion per annum during 2015-16 with $1.06 billion exports from Pakistan.
He pointed out that a lot of investment is going from UAE to Pakistan mainly into dairy products and Gwadar projects.
Syed Javed Hassan, ConsulGeneral of Pakistan in Dubai, projected that trade worth more than $1 billion to be transacted during the show.
“The climate of investment in Pakistan is very conducive for investment as red-tapism and regulations have been eased to quite an extent to attract foreign direct investment. The government has also created certain tax free zones for a period of four to five years for investors from abroad. Besides that, the CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor] is another milestone for investors to invest. When this rail linking through Gwadar becomes operational, the commodities would be transported to China, Central Asia and most of European countries, benefitting about 40 per cent of the population of this [Gulf] region,” he said.
Ahmed Shaikhani, president of the Pakistan Business Council, said Pakistan is the booming market of Asia as all the indicators showing a positive trend.
“Over the last two years, we have participated in several exhibitions in Pakistan and the outcome with Dubai investors and traders was very positive. We will give delegates full support in terms of logistics, documentation and facilitation who are interested to visit this exhibition,” he said, while addressing the member of business councils from different countries.
Bilal Sabouni, CEO of the American Business Council in Dubai, said the expo is growing from strength-to-strength as it’s the 10th edition.
He stated that it was great to learn opportunities Pakistan offers not just for local companies but for organisation from around the world. The expo is a good platform should anyone considering to do business in that market as well as creating partnerships and joint ventures for those based in Dubai.
— waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com